Shopping Online is a easy and convenient way to shop for busy people, it is safe and secure providing you follow a few guidelines. In this article I have collected a few tips that make online shopping secure and fun.

Do business with companies you already know. If the company is unfamiliar, do your research before buying their products

Learn about the comments and ratings from other shoppers to crosscheck the authenticity of the shopping site.

Before buying check the information about online companies from news sources, directories, and rating services.

Make sure the site is VeriSign and make sure the online store uses Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), which encrypts sensitive information.

Avoid putting to much personal information on any of online shopping site. Do not use names, birthdays or pets names as password, instead use a combination of uppercase, lowercase and numbers.

Try and pay through paypal or any other reputed gateway only as they offer a higher degree of security for money transactions

Make sure your credit card is a true credit card and not a debit card, a check card, or an ATM card. As with checks, a debit card exposes your bank account to thieves.

Use only one credit card, with a low credit limit, for all your online purchases. That way it's easy to see if there is a problem since you'll know exactly for what and where the card was used.

Absolutely do not make online purchases from a cyber cafe, as the internet line and systems are unsafe and the system software can be pirated too.

Before registering or buying check the sites policies thoroughly, in case return policy is not mentioned ask the vendor about the time-limit to return an item and whether a full refund or merchandise credit is offered

Never order online until you find out the merchant's policy on items damaged on delivery.

Check what the privacy policy is for the online information merchant is collecting about you, how they will use it, whether they share it with or sell it to others

Do not provide any personal information which is not required to make a purchase, such as your Social Security number or personal bank account information.

Check for expected delivery dates, shipping and handling fees, warranties, return policies, and other important information.

Last but not the least print or save electronically any records related to your online transactions. This will help you keep track of shipping dates, shipping and handling fees, and other details of your transactions

Print out at least one copy of the Web page(s) describing the item you ordered as well as the page showing company name, postal address, phone number, and legal terms, including return policy.